Patriots Rally for America V: Liberty Weekend in Washington DC Sunday March 23

March 16, 2003 | DC Chapter

[FreeTheHostages]

PATRIOTS RALLY FOR AMERICA V: Liberty Weekend in DC March 23

The D.C. Chapter of Free Republic invites all patriotic Americans, including Freepers and lurkers in good standing, to join us at the east front steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC Sunday, March 23, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. to Rally for America.

This rally is organized by the DC Chapter of Free Republic as a part of the Free Republic community and is held in conjunction with Free Republic Network's rallies nationwide next weekend.

We will be making a patriotic moral stand against the marchers' anti-Americanism and willful silence about the barbaric, terrorist regime of Saddam Hussein.

We will also be sending a message of support to our men and women in uniform fighting the war on terrorism overseas and on the home-front.

Bring your American flags and show our troops -- including the many active duty military that may be hard at work at the Pentagon and other places in our immediate community -- that we support and respect their hard work.

When: Sunday, March 23rd, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Where: Lincoln Memorial, the foot of the east steps (facing the reflecting pool and monument)

Directions: Closest Metro stop is Foggy Bottom on the orange line. Detailed driving directions for people coming from out of town will be posted below in this thread.

Rules: We have obtained the proper permits for this peaceful rally and we do not expect any counterprotests. As always, the D.C. Chapter's rules for protesting will be in effect. Briefly, they are: No violence, no profanity, no racism, no provocations, obey the law and treat all law enforcement officers with respect.

Bring: American and Gadsden flags (large and small), along with signs bearing messages supporting our troops, President Bush, America and the war on terror.

Weather: Too soon to tell, but it's been beautiful here recently. Mostly sunny, temps in the low 60s, this weekend. Cherry Blossom Festival will be upon us next weekend, although the trees may not yet be in full bloom.

If you're coming from out of town, send any message/question you have to our out-of-town contact guide for this rally (that would be me, FreeTheHostages).

We had a great rally this last weekend and gots lots of national news broadcasts to our beloved troops that we support them. Let's do it again! Do it for the Troops!

[FreeTheHostages]

Welcome to Free Republic. This is a grassroots conservative website, although there are some liberals who post here in a nondisruptive manner. I should assure you that the people who are organizing this rally are conservatives and that the speakers will say things that are, well, conservative. (LOL -- with any luck.)

That said, I do not think the support for our troops should be a partisan issue. Our theme is to "Support Our Troops" and to "Liberate Iraq." That's the central goal of the rally.

So why I cannot assure you that you may agree with every thing every speaker says, I can assure you that this rally is about a *positive* message of support. We're are not gathering to bash liberals.

I would also like to assure you that we are a highly tolerant group of people. We have been out supporting in favor of our troops for some time and are pretty much *aghast* that the left's anti-war protests have included some signs and graphics and shouts that cannot be construed as other than virulently anti-Semetic.

We don't do that and we're not like that. Whatever race, sex, political party you belong to, if you support our troops, you are certainly certainly welcome to come.

As a final note of confirmation of this fact, I would note that we have routinely had Iraqi-Americans whose families suffered under Saddam Hussein speak at our rallies. You will not have seen any Iraqis who know first-hand about Saddam at the ANSWER rallies.

I do recall many of my left friends saying that if the war started, they'd be right there supporting the troops. If just *one* came, LOL, it would brighten my heart a little that that statement was for some a sincere one.

Look for me, I'll be manning the press table, I'd be happy to greet you.

[FreeTheHostages]

One little point:

"Democrats for war." Gee, I'm not sure *anyone* is "for war." No one is "pro-war." No one -- I don't think even the leftists that claim to believe it -- can possibly believe that sizeable group of patriotic American of either party wants war.

What we know, which the left just seems to have forgotten, is who Saddam is.

It's really sad to see that none of the leftist human rights groups haven't already joined us -- other than, of course, the Iraqis in exile.

Support for the troops transcends partisanship, IMHO.

[DCdem]

No, no...sorry...I totally agree. That whole "Dems for War" was meant to be a tongue-in-cheek statement. I'm not for war...I doubt anyone is actually for a war.

[DCdem]

Thanks. :) I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't feel *entirely* out of place at the rally.

[FreeTheHostages]

Some of our favorite members are recovering Democrats. ;)

[FreeTheHostages]

[Coop]

I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't feel *entirely* out of place at the rally.

If you're there to celebrate our troops and our country you will not feel out of place, even if you may not agree with some or all of the speakers. But I predict you'll still be glad you went. Cheers!

[FreeTheHostages]

Participants in old DC Chapter rally thread:

Good morning! We have a new thread. Check it out and see our confirmed speaker list so far.

Please continue the discussion over here.

[Ligeia]

Heads up! Chris Core just gave the FR url to a caller looking for a rally in DC!

[FreeTheHostages]

Heads up! Chris Core just gave the FR url to a caller looking for a rally in DC!

Congratulations to the Warlord, who made contact on that front today.

Hey, Ligeia, you want to come leaflet with us on the mall tomorrow?

[Ligeia]

No, I'd love to because it's supposed to be a beautiful day tomorrow, but I'm chained to my computer til Tuesday except for a respite to go to our Richmond Rally on Sunday. I know you'll have a great time at the D.C. Patriots' Rally. People are yearning to do something like this!

If any listeners to WMAL heard the info Chris Core delivered, would they be able to find this thread? Maybe the Sidebar Moderator to move back up to the top of Activism.

[FreeTheHostages]

Your idea about putting our thread high up on the sidebar would normally be done, but in this time of war, Free Republic has decided that chapter activism shouldn't be in breaking news.

Just FYI, anti-war protestors have been very bad today in DC: not a lot of them, but a lot of law-breaking. Police helicopter hovering over the White House area much of the day. No doubt the locals will read all about it in tomorrow morning's Washington Post, which will also include this sentence:

"As a counter-point, the D.C. chapter of the conservative group Free Republic is planning to hold a rally at the Lincoln Memorial at 1 p.m. to support the troops and the liberation of Iraq."

Damn straight.

We've been out leafletting on the mall. We expect a lot of people tomorrow. We have a great speaker list, including Cong. King!

[Ligeia]

The nice Mod, terribly overworked and underpaid of late, moved it up to the top of the Virginia sidebar, which was much appreciated.

Anti-war goofballs got themselves in trouble, did they? Mercy!

[FreeTheHostages]

Ah, very good.

They do what they can.

It's good news, not bad, that we're "competing" with Richmond and some of our Virginia-based DC chapter people may to go that larger rally. God bless them all! :)

[Ligeia]

The more the merrier! The talk radio stations that seem to get the most involved are promoting rallies they themselves have organized. Wish some of our metropolitan area stations would get on board.

I saw Shep give about 60 seconds to two rallies on his program this evening. Either he or a member of his staff lurks because he also covered that Richmond story about the city employee's being required to remove his Stars and Stripes, an article which was posted here. I can't imagine it was covered anywhere else but here and Richmond proper. Shep! We love you and appreciate that glorious 60 seconds, but compared to the time devoted to the anti-war lefties, it ain't enough! I heard from my active duty brother today and he says the troops really REALLY need to see more of the support footage, so please, do what you can!

Link for the Richmond rally tomorrow

Richmond's "Rally FER America!!!"- Sun March 23

[Badray]

BTTT

[FreeTheHostages]

Thanks. He gave no time but yes, we all know he mentioned it. But that's OK, 'cause we'll be there early to set up anyway.

Rally starts at 1 p.m.

[FreeTheHostages]

I hope you're still coming tomorrow.

I should add one more thing: regrettably, we haven't had one Patriot's Rally yet where some leftists haven't come and tried to be disruptive or pretend to be us and hold embarassing signs. Sigh. So, we're pretty strict about saying to people that if they're not part of our rally and our support-the-troops message, and they're off on some other tune, we have a permit for this space and we decline to let them share the space.

I hope if you come tomorrow and you see any signs that you think are offensive or inappropriate, you will also let us know. Because we intend to be careful on this issue.

[Eddie02]

Well, I took the day off and brought my family to your rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. We arrived just in time to hear the Pledge of Allegiance being recited with the words UNDER GOD left out. We were stunned. The people around us were stunned. Whose brilliant idea was that? I was standing next to a WWII veteran and I said, “I think they left something out.” He just shook his head sadly and said, “Boy, have you got that right.” The last thing we expected right out of the gate at a rally sponsored by conservatives was big dose of political correctness. I thought for a moment we were at the wrong rally–-you know, the one on the other side of the Mall sponsored by the people who are embarrassed to be Americans and are ashamed of our heritage and traditions. I was disgusted, and we felt like leaving, but we stayed because we supported the overall theme of the event. Nevertheless, that was an extremely disappointing way to start things out. So much for the “conservatives” at FreeRepublic.